


With the River at Our Feet

by HeyFinlee



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Small Town, F/F, Fishing, Fluff, Its set in menagerie because we love an island community, just writing this makes me feel so fuzzy i cant..., they help each other heal, yang's just moved in and needs help settling in :flushed_emoji:
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23294500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyFinlee/pseuds/HeyFinlee
Summary: Her mother’s coffee shop was still open when she returned to their small village, ears flattened across her head and shame weighing down her back. As Sun chirped about the smell of coffee, Blake’s mother had stared like she was seeing a ghost. Just like she’d do every middle school afternoon, Blake dropped her backpack by the door and breathed in the smell of coffee.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	1. A beginning

Blake tries very hard to spend every summer afternoon she can with her toes dipped in the river. It’s a 10 minute walk from her house, and she does it with a book in one hand and an iced tea in the other. Reading is one of the few things she still had left, one of the few pieces she was able to put back together once she returned home to Menagerie.

Reading, and her love of coffee. Her mother’s coffee shop was still open when she returned to their small village, ears flattened across her head and shame weighing down her back. As Sun chirped about the smell of coffee, Blake’s mother had stared like she was seeing a ghost. Just like she’d do every middle school afternoon, Blake dropped her backpack by the door and breathed in the smell of coffee.

Since that day, Blake’s parents had welcomed her home with open arms. She spends her mornings working at the cafe, running the coffee machine and taking orders, fending off Sun’s jokes in between customers. Though her parents needed a little convincing, Blake is allowed to slip away in the afternoons. Sometimes Sun comes with her, and they sit under the big oak talking about the strange people that live in the small town. He brings bananas, and tosses the peels to nature.

“The trees love it, Blake!” He’d exclaim, “You know they do, makes good fertilizer.” She’s not completely convinced, but she tends to tolerate his opinions better than most people’s. 

The river though, she keeps a secret. She’s been home for three weeks and has never seen another person along its shore. Which is why Blake is surprised when she’s distracted from chapter 12 of Ninjas of Love by a blonde walking down the stony bank. 

“Hey there!” Shouts the stranger, a long fishing rod on her left hand and a cooler in the other. “What are you doing? Mind if I set up here?”

Blake hesitates, not expecting to make any small talk this afternoon. Her ears twitch in discomfort and she suddenly wishes she wore her bow today. She decides on, “Just reading. What are you doing?” 

“Fly fishing- Or I wanted to. I just moved and I heard this river was good for it… You don’t mind do you?” The blonde smiles cheekily, lilac eyes widening, “I can be quiet, I swear.” 

“Can you?” Blake replies, as the woman kicks stones with each step. The blonde gawks, jokingly, fingers fiddling with her fishing rod’s line. “Sure. It’s not like I own the river.” 

“Sweet!” She yells, and then as an afterthought, whispers, “Sweet. Quiet. I’m on it.” She sets about preparing to cast her line, fiddling with something on the end of her line. Blake doesn’t claim to know much about fishing, the one time she tried it on her grandfather’s boat had led to her vomiting into the ocean. 

Blake finds herself unable to look away as the blonde begins what looks like a routine. The blonde pulls her overshirt off and wades into the water. Her shoulders ripple as she casts into this river for the first time. Her right hand draws up, parallel to her head, as the fishing line shoots out from the water and loops back behind her. Blake is suddenly thankful for the 10 meters distance between them. The fisherwoman’s line swings back towards the river, gliding effortlessly through the sky and landing softly in the water. 

Blake’s afternoon goes quicker than usual. She barely reads, and mostly watches and the other woman catches and releases fish. Blake’s not sure the blonde knows she’s watching, but she doesn’t think she’d mind. Her alarm goes off at 5pm, and startles the both of them. Blake stands up, iced tea in one hand and book in the other, eyes wide like she was caught in something she shouldn’t be. 

As she turns around the bend of the pathway back towards her house, she hears the woman say, “Goodbye.”


	2. Tree time meet and greet

Blake's mother shoos her out of the store just after the lunch rush, fussing at her messy hair. 

“You didn’t sleep well last night, did you?” Her mother had asked, pulling Blake’s hair back into a ponytail. “If I keep you here, I know you’ll just over-tamp the coffee like you used to when exam season hit. Get out, make some friends or something.” 

After that, Blake was all but pushed out the door with a fistful of Lien. She flexes her toes under her socks, black ones with little pizzas on them, and wishes she had worn a thinner pair. Slowly she slips her feet into sneakers, a worn red pair sun had doodled on a few months ago, little smiley faces and hearts in black sharpie. 

Kali tried to stop him, but Blake caught her before she could. “It’s helping, Mom.” She had said, and hoped that it conveyed what she really meant;  _ It’s healing, Mom. It’s making new memories to cover up the old ones. _

She stops by the bakery, itching for something sweet to wake herself up. The woman behind the counter (Nora, she remembers tentatively), produces a freshly baked tray of chocolate chip muffins, and who could refuse that? 

She makes it to the river 20 minutes earlier than usual. She didn’t have a book today, forced out before she could grab one, so she set to work climbing a tree. She did this once before as an adult, encouraged by Sun and maybe a little drunk. They spent the early hours of the morning hiding from the rest of the Fang crew and giggling, until Adam had climbed up after them and pushed Sun from the tree for touching his girl.

She banishes the thought, fingers digging into the notches of the tree. The bark beneath her hands leaves calluses in its wake, soft skin pulling asunder. It reminds her of childhood, of goofy grins and softness. She’s too caught up looking into the water and remembering the hot days with her legs in the river to notice the blonde trampling through the brush until she’s right below the tree. 

“Trying to spy on me, are you?” She asks, looking up at Blake, her hands in the pockets of her joggers.

“Oh, fuck.” Is Blake’s only response, almost slipping from the branch she found herself on. 

“Shit- Please don’t fall, I do not need hurting a pretty girl on my conscience.” 

Blake stares down at her, human ears red and cat ears pinned back. Her fingers fun up and down the spine of the branch she straddles as she calculates a response. “It’s fine,” she decides on. 

“Good thing you have cat like re- great reflexes! Good thing you have great reflexes!” The girl exclaims. “Okay! Fishing is what I will be doing, over here, far away where I can’t annoy you! Enjoy the tree!” 

Blake takes a moment to study the other woman as she recomposes herself. The blonde unceremoniously dumps her fishing rod and tackle box and wipes her hands off on her black wading overalls. She sets about fidgeting with the rod, her face, though mostly obscured by her sunglasses, dusted by a faint blush. 

Just as she begins to waid out, Blake drops from the tree and asks, “Why are you fishing if you never keep the fish? What’s the point?” 

The blond turns, a slight smile on her face as she shrugs. “It’s relaxing, it gets me out of the house, and just sometimes I make new friends because of it. I’m Yang, by the way.”

“Blake.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm making a playlist for this fic because I need music to write to with just the right vibe tm. If there are any suggestions let me know! I will try my best to keep updating :)

**Author's Note:**

> I'll have you know this chapter was EXACTLY 669 words long and I think that's a good omen for us, people


End file.
